Page 124 of Love Without Control

As I watched him, something was right on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn’t quite…

“I’ve got it,” I announced suddenly. “Who is known for eating lasagna?”

Dane pulled the puppy from the tub and wrapped him in a towel. “Um, everyone with taste?”

“Noooo,” I chastised. “Garfield! From the cartoon.” I rubbed the little dog’s wet head. “We’ll call him Garfield.”

“But he’s a dog.”

“I know. It’s ironic, so that makes it cute.”

He nodded. “I like it. Should we come up with a dog name for the cat to keep with the theme?”

I peered down at the black-and-white kitten in my arms. “Yeah, I think so.”

Dane kissed the cat’s nose. “How about Snoopy since she’s always snooping around like a little nosy butt?”

“I love it!” I squealed as the doorbell rang.

“That’s the pizza. I’ll get it,” my husband said, handing the towel-wrapped puppy to me.

Turning to the mirror, I looked at myself and our fur babies, so happy we finally had names for them.

“Welcome to the family, Garfield and Snoopy.”

Chapter 41

FOURTEENYEARSINHIDING

“Garfield, would you please stop licking Charlisse?” I groaned, and the big, goofy dog tilted his head at me in apparent confusion. “Oh, don’t give me that look, mister. You know exactly what I’m saying.”

Charlisse gave him a scratch behind the ears and leaned closer. “He’s not bothering me. He’s a gooood boy, isn’t he?” she crooned, and he licked her mouth. She wiped it with the back of her hand and gave him a mock frown. “I was sticking up for you, doofus.”

Properly chastised, Garfield circled once and flopped onto the floor beneath the dining table for his usual afternoon nap. I tilted my laptop screen and showed Charlisse what I’d been working on.

“Do you like this?”

She pressed a hand over her heart and nodded. “I can’t believe my baby is graduating from high school. Thank you so much for helping me with the invitations. The ones you can order through the school are so damn expensive, and this looks a million times better.”

“Happy to help. His senior photos turned out so great. There’s a place where you can order the invites online. All you have to do is upload this file, and they’ll send you a proof within twenty-four hours.” After a few keystrokes, I said. “There. I sent the file and the web address to your email.”

She hugged me tightly, and I could hear the sniffle in her voice. “You are the best friend ever, Eden. Coop was so excited when I told him you and Dane are hosting a senior party for him and his friends.”

“Well, we’re very proud of him. I’m going to miss him when he goes to basic training.” I pulled back and looked into her watery blue eyes. “How are you doing with that?”

“Oh, you know. I’m proud as hell that he’s going into the Army, but of course, I worry.” She waved a hand in front of her face to try and stave off the tears that seemed to come more and more often the closer we got to the date when Cooper would be leaving home.

“You’ve raised a wonderful son, Char. He’s going to go do great things.”

When she burst into tears, I did too, and we hugged it out as we cried. “He is such a good boy,” Charlisse wailed, and Garfield popped his head up at the last two words, making us both laugh.

“She wasn’t talking to you, silly dog,” I told him, reaching down to rub one silky ear.

“Let’s talk about something else,” she suggested, pulling a package of tissues from her purse and handing one to me. “I saw your latest Instagram post, and it was so funny. You always come up with the most clever captions.”

“I try. It helps when I have such cute subjects.” As if summoned, Snoopy leaped onto my lap and boosted herself onto the keyboard of my laptop, making herself right at home. I scratched the spot she loved beneath her chin. “Hey, pretty girl. Are you posing for a picture?”

Grabbing my phone, I backed up and snapped a photo of the cat on my computer. I generally tried to use videos or pictures of both the animals for the Instagram account I’d titledThe Adventures of Garfield and Snoopy,but occasionally, one of them would get to be in the spotlight by themselves.

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